Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Sunday called for accountability for the police department that responded to last week’s mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, saying it's clear that "protocols were not followed" after the revelation that officers waited outside the classroom containing the gunman and children for more than an hour until Border Patrol agents breached the door and killed him.
During an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union," Crenshaw said "it's hard not to see how someone doesn't get fired" for the slow response to Robb Elementary School on Tuesday, when 19 children and two teachers were fatally shot by 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos.
"I know better than most not to necessarily judge the person who’s walking through the breach and is in that moment in the arena, but it does seem clear that protocols were not followed," he said.
Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday that the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District made the call to not let officers into the classroom because he believed Ramos had barricaded himself and was no longer a threat to children. While police officers followed Ramos into the building within two minutes of the attack, another 47 minutes passed before the Border Patrol tactical team breached the door, McCraw said.
POLICE FACE QUESTIONS OVER TIMELINE OF EVENTS SURROUNDING UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING
"Of course it was not the right decision," McCraw said. "It was the wrong decision."
McCraw said teachers and children repeatedly called 911 asking for help as Ramos carried out the attack. He did not call out the chief of police, Peter Arredondo, by name.